Message in a Body
by Daphne29
Summary: When an explosion occurs at the NCIS office in Washington D.C., the team races to find answers and save two of their own.
1. Chapter 1

**Message in a Body**

**Chapter One : Disorientation**

**Sound was like a fleeting echo, pierced by brash interludes of cacophonous reality. It was vibrant enough to jar her body into motion on the next crescendo, but dwindled again, almost dragging her back into the dark with it as it dipped into a trough, nearly taking all intelligible sound with it once more. Like wise, her vision was skewed, blurred so badly that the only thing she could tell for certain was that there was far too little light. **

**Acrid smoke burned deep with every breath as she tried to move once more, only to hear her own scream pierce the dim lit broken world around her. "Abby…" it was a whisper, a cry, no a concerned groan. A voice lost in it's own pain, yet filled with concern for her. "Abby." the gravel to his voice rose in fear and a cry passed his lips in tandem with a crunch of concrete against concrete as he shifted rubble from his body. **

**In an instant a weight lifted from own her chest, tender fingers probing fervently. "Abby…" He was closer, moving faster, terror griping his voice now as she panted in breath after breath and tried to recover from the pain that moving had caused. "Abby…" Could he not say anything, but her name? **

"**Abby." Oh Geez, How about, 'Are you alright' ? Maybe it was implied? Or was her name the question? Everything in her head felt fuzzy, like her brain cells were trying to trying to clear up a case of amnesia on how to fire off the synapses. "Ab- " She cut him off finally, when she found her voice again. "McGee…" Sure it wasn't much, but then what did he expect, he wasn't really saying much more then her name anyway. **

"**Oh thank God, Are you ok? Can you move?" Ok that explained his name calling. He **_**was **_**wanting to get a status. All made sense now. Abby finally tried to open her eyes again and blinked rapidly to filter out even the dim light that filtered in from the swaying fluorescent that was only half a foot above McGee's head. It flickered wildly for a few moments as she blinked and then became more steady. "I don't know." You'd think that it wouldn't be so hard to answer such questions, but…**

**She drew in a deeper breath and felt the sudden pain again, her sides bursting with blitzed agony and she bit back another scream, her breath hitched between clenched teeth as all her muscles seized up to try and keep her movement more sheltered. "Whoawhoawhoa." McGee stilled her, gently placing his hands on both shoulders as he pressed his body in closer. "Breath easy. .." Damn it was easy for him to say that. She felt tears slip down from the corner of her eyes as she finally was able to do so, muscle groups slowly relaxing as the pain began to become manageable. **

"**Alright…okay…" She wasn't really sure who McGee was trying to reassure as he whispered the words out, his own voice strained more and more with fear that he couldn't mask. Although a moment ago she was questioning it, she could breath easier now. Blackness edged back into her vision, McGee's voice lost to echoing consciousness before she came back around. "Abby, can you hear me?" She almost scoffed, ok so maybe she actually did, but it was a soft one, enough so that she wasn't feeling a whole lot in the way of pain. **

"**I Hope so, otherwise I'm hallucinating." Abby opened her eyes, seeing relief flooding McGee's eyes. "What happened?" She remembered that they needed to get to her lab, they had been near Gibb's desk…he was on the usual letting everyone decide what he was about to order then to do phase of the investigation and then rush to do it and she and McGee had been walking toward the elevator…Had they gotten in? **

"**The elevator shaft collapsed." McGee replied evenly, as she felt more weight lift off her and she realized that McGee had been trying to uncover her. " We hit the bottom and most of the debris came through the top of the elevator." He motioned upward as if she needed to know which way was up. Ok so the elevator had collapsed and debris rained down from above…wait, What?! **

"**I think you've got some broken ribs, possible internal bleeding, maybe a concussion, you were buried, Abby." McGee continued though Abby was working out what could have caused something like this to happen in her own mind, not listening to the list of possible injuries. "There was…was it…it was a bomb?" Abby asked him in horror, tears glistening in her eyes. McGee licked his lips and looked away a moment before he met her eyes worriedly. "I don't know, maybe. I just…"McGee looked up wondering as she did, what lay beyond should it be true. "I don't know…" **

**OOOO**

"**Ow…hey." Tony pulled his arm back, giving the paramedic a look of disdain as the guy had been working to get his forearm patched up, gauze now coating the skin between frayed edges of torn burgundy where his sleeve had once been. "Sir, I barely…" the paramedic protested but was cut short as Tony spotted Gibbs walking through the parking lot back towards the building. "Don't worry about it." Tony pushed off the back end of the ambulance and headed in Gibbs' direction at a sprint. There was still a lot of ground to cover to reach the building, nearly 2,000 feet away.**

**Smoke was still billowing out of the building from the shattered windows of their third story home above. "Boss." Tony acknowledged him taking in a deeper breath as he slowed up to meet Gibb's fast stride. Gibbs looked over with narrowed eyes as if to ask what he was doing at his side. "I know I was heading to the hospital with Ziva, but really… 'It's just a flesh wound.'" Tony mimicked a British accent and noted Gibb's not so amused glance. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail…" Tony added as if that would somehow clear it all up. It didn't. Gibbs looked away with a scowl and Tony frowned further, looking away a moment to collect his thoughts as though trying to reconcile through the shock to get back to his normal self in this instance. "Director Vance said that Ducky and Jimmy were out on assignment…they're coming in now." Tony offered, explaining what he knew about who they hadn't accounted for yet.**

"**They still haven't had any word from Abby or McGee." He said at last, knowing exactly what was eating at Gibbs, as his boss turned his gaze on him. Gibb's stopped mid stride and turned on DiNozzo. "They were in the elevator," He said with a strained emotional edged to his voice. Tony swallowed, having thought basically the same thing, but wishing to hold out hope. He knew Gibbs was too, but there was every chance that…that…Tony swallowed tightly and let out a breath. "They're not dead." Tony whispered out in all seriousness for once. Gibbs met his eyes with a gentle nod, his features softening a bit.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: All Accounted For

The crumbling world of steel and concrete became more organized, in focus. Panting echoed in and out of consciousness, grunts of pain, soft crashes muffled by metal as the vibrations from clambering debris radiated upward enough to reverberate through the floor of the elevator. The florescent light swayed still, and Abby had to choke back bile as the dizziness from shadows and shapes coming in and out of sight in blurring hazes cast her into a fit of vertigo so badly upon waking that she didn't even notice...

McGee leaned back against the elevator doors and took a pained breath, closing his eyes a moment to catch his breath. He'd been trying to clean out their small space as best he could without jeopardizing the stability of their situation. So far he'd made a good deal of headway, there were only a few large chunks of concrete that were still cluttering the floor and for the life of him he prayed that somewhere in what remained his cell phone would be found, and found to be working. McGee slid a hand up his side with a tight swallow and a grimace as he pushed off the doors and looked to the large hole adorning the right metallic wall of the elevator in twisted explosion ravaged juts of reflective silver. He'd been using the hole to deposit the large chunks of concrete and had finally managed to get Abby wholly uncovered.

He heard her shift and forgot for a moment about the sticky warmth that had oozed into his palm from where he was holding his side as he knelt down beside her, relief coursing through his very core that she was awake again. He quickly drew his jacket around the wound, concealing it from Abby as he drew closer, making sure she was fully conscious and not about to slip out again. "Abby..."

"I don't suppose you could make the light stop swaying." She asked, her voice a ghost of a whisper. McGee frowned further and looked over his shoulder to the calm light that hadn't moved an inch since the last time he'd bumped it. She was still heavily disorientated which was adding credence to the whole severe concussion angle. Instead of worrying her further he met her eyes with a gentle reassuring smile. "I'll see what I can do." He promised her.

"Are you ok?" She asked worriedly, blinking a few times as if trying to clear her vision, but it was obvious from the way she was squinting at him that it hadn't helped all that much. McGee had a feeling that he might never have gotten away with the lie that slipped out, had she not been in her current condition. "I'm fine, Abby. Just worried about you." He took a breath and nodded to the doors. "I don't think we actually crashed to the bottom. I think we're on a pile of debris that used to be Ducky's lab." McGee explained with a tight swallow.

Abby's eyes widened and McGee realized his mistake immediately as he moved to keep her still. "No...I don't...Ducky was out. We passed him remember? On our way back into work from lunch?" McGee reminded her, and breathed out in relief when she calmed her eyes still glassed over, blinking back tears. "So no one was..." McGee shook his head. "Not that I know of. I think it was empty." He prayed it was. That everyone else got out. "We might be able to get to your lab, Abby."

"If it's still there." Abby interjected remembering that they had already hypothesized that the explosion could have been from a bomb and even if it wasn't a bomb, it was strong enough to collapse the central elevator shaft. Even as out of it as she was, Abby could put two and two together on this one. Sure there were chemicals in both and her and Ducky's lab, but they were both meticulous in their handling of them. Something this potent was not likely an accident. "It's still there." McGee surprised her with his insight and for a moment she forgot that she had been in and out of it for God only knew how long. "I started to pry the door open earlier but there was too much in the way. I could see it, though." McGee assured her. "Maybe I can get the doors the rest of the way open and I can find a way to get you out of here. The shaft can't take much more collapse I think we'd be safer..."

"You don't know that...this might be the only way they can get us back out." Abby played devils advocate though McGee knew when he met her eyes that she was just as unsure about either choice. One thing neither one of them enjoyed was making a guess without more of the facts to go on. "We can always get back in." McGee licked at his lips as he suddenly spotted his cell under the last pile of rubble he hadn't quite had a chance to get to yet. "And maybe we can find out more." He regained a shaky smile as he reached over her gingerly, their body's nudging against one another as he retrieved the phone. His smile grew he flipped it over so that she could see that it was working and actually had a signal...

* * *

Tony was half listening to a high pitched female receptionist from Bethesda with one ear while his finger was pressed into the other to muffle the blaring noise all around him, he guessed he was trained to pick out Gibb's voice no matter what, because he could still hear him laying into the first response coordinator for a time frame on the team joining search and rescue. "David...D.A.V.I.D. First name Ziva. Z.I.V.A. She was on her way in."

"Emphasis on the _Was_." Tony whirled when he heard her commanding lightly accented voice from behind him and widened eyes lit over her form as he gave a quick. "Never mind..." and slammed the phone shut. He reached towards the bandage wrapped around her head, covering her left ear. "I watched you leave." He hushed the concern in his voice as he questioned her with his eyes. She gave a slight nod, hiding the grimace rather well. "That you did." She agreed, without giving up more as she looked past him to Gibb's not so subtle negotiation. Tony gave a grunt of frustration but knew not to push it and if worse came to worse then Gibbs would send her on her way back to the hospital in a heart beat. "And now I am back." She smirked, but it dwindled quickly as her eyes lit on the smoke past Gibbs and the first responder.

"Caught that." Tony nodded as he noticed Ducky and Palmer pulling in and then heading in their direction. He turned back to motion to Gibbs, should the tirade be over, that Ducky was here, but saw that the Boss was pulling out his phone. Tony narrowed his eyes, following Ziva towards Gibbs. Suddenly Gibbs was placing his own finger into his free ear to muffle the noise of the emergency crews. "McGee!" Tony and Ziva picked up the pace and paused making a half circle on either side of Gibbs, leaving room for Ducky and Palmer to join them. "Where are you? Are you alright? Abby?"

"I'm fine, a little banged up but I'll live." McGee hoped that Gibbs wasn't as good as seeing through a lie over the phone, because truthfully, he didn't know how he was. He hadn't had a chance to really look and he didn't want to freak Abby out any more then they both already were. "Abby's not. She's been in and out and she's showing signs of a head injury, maybe some shock...I think we can get to her lab, but it's going to take some time. How's it look from your end? Is everyone..."

Gibbs swallowed meeting everyone's eyes as Ducky and Palmer joined the group and then his eyes lit on the asphalt beneath his feet. "Everyone's fine. Mild injuries." He narrowed his eyes at Ziva knowing she was supposed to be at the hospital, but seeing that she seemed steady enough for now. "The rescue teams are moving slow, but it's precautionary." Gibbs explained just waiting for McGee to get the rest. "I understand." Gibbs nodded slowly. The precaution was not bringing the rest of the building down on the both of them. Even though the majority of the damage seemed confined to basement two and the elevator shaft, the stability of basement one and the ground floor were still an iffy thing at best and if they went...well then level 2 and 3 were right behind them. "They're saying the central shaft took the most damage, right now sub level one looks more stable. Do what you can to get into the lab, and keep me posted." Gibbs ordered, cinching up the decision for them.

"On it, Boss." McGee replied and was about to let him go when Gibbs spoke once more. "How bad are you hurt?" He asked him quietly as though he realized why he hadn't said anything. "I honestly don't know yet." McGee replied. "Find out, McGee, and call me back." Gibbs told him softly so that Abby didn't overhear. McGee was shocked at the concern in Gibbs voice but he nodded at first, having to shake himself to remember that Gibbs couldn't see the nod. "Right, will do, Boss."

"Everything's going to be alright." Gibbs promised him finally. "We'll be there to get you soon." Gibbs pocketed the phone as the group stood around him silently and he shifted on his feet before he looked up to meet their eyes once more. "They're alive, but both injured and both in the central elevator shaft. They're trying to relocate to Abby's lab." There was barely a chance for sighs of concern and relief, barely a moment that everyone could even guess at what the rest of their friends and co workers were thinking.

There was barely a moment at all...

A tremor reverberated through the asphalt as a growing roar that built into a thunderous crescendo of smoke and screams sounded over the sirens. Gibbs looked to the skyline, past the low lying building's and the fences in between to the towering FBI precinct that lay beyond. In the dimming afternoon light the FBI building's infrastructure danced with a shiver of razor sharp spray from the windows that blew out. The entire team watched in horror as smoke billowed from the floors above, much like it had done in their own building as the evacuation began.

It was becoming very apparent that there was no accident involved as the team seemed to move in slow motion to help those that they could of their neighbors, being as they couldn't currently help their own. What they didn't know was that while everyone's minds played over the glaring possibilities, while they all danced around the terrorist threats, while they pondered who would take credit for it all...What they didn't know...was that it was far from what anyone though, and someone had already taken credit for all of this and more to come.


	3. Chapter 3

**Message in a Body**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NCIS or it's characters. There is no monetary profit from this work of fiction...it's just for fun.

**Correction: **I flubbed up on the location of the FBI precinct as low and behold =P I completely had a moment and forgot that the NCIS building was located in the Navy yard( Go figure =D ). Thank You Cathy for pointing this out. So I'm going to make a slight correction to Chapter two and while in reality the FBI precinct is no where near the Navy yard...for the sake of this little fic we'll just pretend it is =P.

Sorry if you got an extra alert for Chapter 2. I'm still getting the hang of and how to fix things.

**Chapter Three: Sledge Hammer**

"You got quiet." Abby smiled when she felt a tickle against her cheek as light as a feather and for a moment the very idea that she and Tim were trapped in an elevator inside a possibly unstable NCIS building, her home away from home was just a fleeting dream. "Tim..." Abby felt a few more feather touches and scrunched her shoulders and nose in tandem as she shewed the offender away. Her smile dwindled when the softness slid across the back of her hand in a slick of baby powder consistency and she got no reply.

In an instant her eyes snapped open and then fluttered as she fought the wavering stabbing pain from the intrusion of light. "McGee!" Still nothing. Panic rose as Abby fought to sit up, grunting out in agony as she panted, holding her side, looking about frantically. Ok, she hadn't just imagined McGee over and over...waking and sleeping. Surely her head wasn't injured that badly. He'd been here, clearing out the elevator, talking to Gibbs...he'd been here...he had.

"McGee..." Abby whispered, emerald watering over as her lips parted to pant in against the tears, her gaze cast upwards in time to realize that the feather touches were bits of ash that were raining down into the elevator from the hole above. She closed her eyes, drawing in a shaky breath as ash dotted her dark lashes. She sniffed against the tears and looked to her right where the metal should have parted to reveal her lab.

Her Lab! Abby stiffened as she suddenly remembered McGee talking about getting to her lab with Gibbs. She scrambled, well started to, before the pain slowed her to a crawl, but she managed to get to her feet, managed to wedge her elbow in between the doors, managed to nudge them open just enough to see...

She looked into a foreign landscape of pitch black, not even the hue of monitor light to show her the way. What should have been a dusky twilight was marred by spiderwebbed fractures of glass where rubble hadn't quite broken through the bullet resistant glass that Gibbs had promised and delivered on years ago. Abby's breath caught in her throat as she climbed from the elevator to the floor and froze, a lone flashlight halo shining off the glass from her office. "McGee..." Still no answer.

Abby limped in that direction, holding to her side protectively, her head in such a state that she almost wished she wasn't awake, until she saw McGee slumped against the wall beyond the partition. Abby rushed, as much as she could rush, to his side, dropping to her knees with an Umph, the impact nearly sending her diving back into unconsciousness. In a moment though her vision cleared and the pain lessened enough so that she could think straight, letting her get back to making sure that McGee was alright.

Trembling hands slid across Tim's chest pausing when the reverberation of his heart beat met her palm. "Oh Thank God." She frantically wrapped her arms around him, rousing him to his own pain as she flinched to hers, yet ignored it as best she could to take in the solace of knowing that he was alive. He groaned under her embrace as his head lulled and he gasped in a breath.

"Abby?" McGee whispered out worriedly, rousing to panic as he realized that not only was she moving around, but he'd failed to get her out of the elevator. "You shouldn't be up..."

He heard her snub in breath through her tears as she pulled back and suddenly socked him lightly in the shoulder. "Apparently you shouldn't have been either. Why didn't you tell me, you were hurt?" Abby asked, her face betraying the intensity of her worry. "What's wrong?"

"I was trying to keep you calm..."

She cut him off again with another slug to his arm garnering a soft yelp from McGee in response. "Next time try not lying! What's wrong?" She asked again, more pointedly her eyes widening to betray an unspoken threat of another slug.

"I have a piece of rebar stuck in my right flank...it's small...I think..." Abby's eyes widened even more returning to the panic from before. "I think I was on the phone explaining that to Gibbs when I passed out." McGee explained.

"We're going to have a long talk about honesty when we get out of here." Abby promised him, while pulling his coat back to see the wound. "God..." She swallowed tightly. "McGee..." another tear slid down her cheek as she met his eyes. "I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks." He tried to reassure her.

OOO

Three hours saw a lot of change on the outside world, far beyond the crumbling and shattered remains of the NCIS building there was another tragedy. The FBI wasn't near so insulated, the building sustained far more damage and thus the casualties were far greater. The team stayed helping where they could, until Gibbs got McGee's call.

He pulled them all away, heading back to their demolished home as answers seemed even more fleeting. What they knew was that the explosion occurred in Ducky's lab. What they knew was that Acetone peroxide was present. What they knew was that the building wasn't stable at all. What they knew was that McGee and Abby didn't have enough time to stand around and listen to everyone pussy foot about the options, the risks. Was there another device? Could it be detected? Obviously the first one wasn't, even with the precautions already in place and by now it was fairly obvious that all this, wasn't an accident.

Tony hurried behind Gibbs and Ducky with Ziva trailing behind him and Palmer behind her, their small train headed towards what he suspected was some sort of tool shed. He wasn't sure if he should be any more worried that Gibbs had finished arguing and was now in action mode, having just ordered one of the crews to clear the debris from Abby's lab windows. They'd already heard the warning about another possible collapse but they were talking about life and death and it was their team. No one flinched at going into the danger zone.

Ahead of him Ducky was making his case for the possible causes of the explosion. "There are a number of chemicals that could have been mixed on site to cause the explosion, but with the presence of Acetone Peroxide..." Ducky paused as Gibbs pulled open the shed door and moved inside with purpose. "Tony." Gibbs gave him the heads up just in time to catch the sledge hammer he tossed in his direction. Gibbs grabbed another and without the slightest explanation they were on the move again.

"As I was saying." Ducky went on as he fell back into line. "The chemicals could have been mixed on site, but that would mean that whoever did it was cleared to be there or somehow alluded all of our security. The only other possibility would be if the device was delivered somehow and made it past the security, but the only deliveries I generally get are bodies..." Ducky trailed off thoughtfully, gaining Gibbs questioning glance.

"Could it have been in the body?" Gibbs asked without delay.

"I suppose, and it might explain how it got through without detection." Ducky was clearly wanting a moment to think it out more thoroughly.

"Ducky, make sure it's a possibility." Gibbs commanded as they neared the final approach on the lab side of the building, the crew just now getting to the first window. "Ziva..."

"I will find out who delivered the body." Ziva nodded immediately before breaking from the group.

Gibbs ducked under the precautionary tape, hearing protests from the the rookie who was assigned to guard the perimeter but ignored it as he headed to the window with purpose in every stride. Tony finally figured out what he was to do as he watched the Boss take the first swing at the bulletproof glass with the sledge hammer.

OOO

The entire force was heading to the FBI or the Naval yard and here he was checking out the latest call from Freak out Freddy, their resident cop wanna be but wasn't who often called in exaggerated reports. Officer Donovan Fischer sighed as he parked the car at the end of the alley in question and grabbed his hat from the empty passenger seat. He could only pray that the chief got over his grudge soon. Fred paced nervously at the alley's entrance biting at his already wittled down nails, but quickly perked up as Donovan joined him.

"She's one of yours...I'm so sorry." Fred started but Donovan cut him off with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah yeah yeah...look all of the department is accounted for, but please...lead the way." he motioned for him to go on. "Then she was pretending to be a cop. The name badge says Randolph." Fred narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I could have sworn I've seen her at the precinct."

Donovan frowned worriedly as he approached and could see that it was indeed a body...in uniform. Lacy Randolph was off today...He'd walked her to car the night before. He rounded the trash bins to get a closer look, praying that just one more time Fred had been exaggerating, that he was wrong...but Lacy's lifeless eyes told him another story. "I didn't touch anything." Fred promised him.

Donovan crouched beside her, trying to hide the emotions brimming behind his eyes as he nodded silently. He ran a hand down his face in a sort of shocked remorse before looking back over his shoulder. "Go wait by the car..." He told him before he reached up to radio it in. Fred gave him a respectful nod and started on his way. He was almost there when the world behind him ignited, sending him flying over the squad car and then skidding across the pavement at an awkward angle.

The dusky ambrosia sky was just coming back into focus when he realized there was a man leaning over him, his face obscured in shadow. "Tell them they've got it all wrong." The deep voice ordered before he felt him pat his chest as he slipped something into his shirt pocket. He sworn he just blinked...just blinked...and the only evidence that the man had ever been there was the dwindling sound of his footfalls.

OOO

Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I really appreciate the feedback and hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. Aha I finally figured out how to change this out without deleting and adding the chapter back...Feel free to laugh at my technical ineptness =P but alas progress...


	4. Chapter 4

**Message in a Body**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NCIS or it's characters. There is no monetary profit from this work of fiction...it's just for fun. I also do not own the lyrics for " I Can't Decide." by Scissor Sisters. No Copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N: ** Thanks so much for the reviews. I get a little insecure and it's always nice to see that people are enjoying reading this.

**Chapter Four: I Can't Decide **

"The blast must have interrupted power to the lab..." Abby called over her shoulder as she ran her fingers over the top of the Mass Spectrometer with a grimace, awkwardly holding herself upright. "It's going to be ok, Baby." She told the machine softly, in a mothering tone. McGee leaned back against the partition of glass that divided the two rooms, the halo from the flashlight silhouetting his form as he worked his jacket off, finger's fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

He smiled to himself, seeing Abby moving from the corner of his eyes, her concerned one sided banter with her equipment helping him keep his mind off the pain that had his muscles quivering all around the hard shaft of steel lodged in his side. A low rumble had begun outside the windows, but the sound wasn't easy to place with the other creaks and groans that had joined the accompaniment. The building was protesting, singing it's death kneel and McGee could only pray that they found a way out before that song ended. "Could be, or they cut it for precautionary reasons."

He hissed in a breath as his fingers hesitantly brushed against the end of the rebar, sunken just far enough in that he couldn't fully grasp it. He knew better then to pull it out. Even with the risk of infection, he would bleed out before hope saw fit to show itself. He worked his shirt off, breathing labored between gasps of agony. He had to stop to catch his breath after the white dress shirt adorned the floor by his feet, before he could reach for the antiseptic in the first aid kit resting on Abby's desk.

"Still no signal?" Abby licked at her lips, catching herself on the table in the center of her main work area, as dizziness and throbbing black dots of torture melded into a cacophonous roar in her ears. She screamed out, doubling over, her hold on the table keeping her somewhat vertical as she slipped to her knees aside the table.

McGee's hand paused over the bottle as Abby asked about the phone and he was about to check it when he heard her scream, her form crumpling in his peripheral as a sudden swath of twilight swept into the room from the half moon windows near the ceiling. McGee could just barely made out the work crews frantically working to clear the windows before there was a sudden impact against the glass that caused him to jump, then pause to catch his breath again when the jumping caused the muscles to contract around the rebar. He was finally able to clench his teeth together as he pushed off the glass partition and made his way to Abby, knowing full well that neither one of them was alright.

Sound, light, and meaning all ceased to exist for a brief moment as Abby, fought the encroaching unconscious. She had just angled her head against the table, toward the light filtering in through the window, her breath at a pant, the pain and noise beginning to dwindle. Her eyes fluttered just as McGee reached her, his arm slipping under her arm to help support her as he knelt down to her level. "Abby..." He whispered worriedly, quickly shifting his gaze from her to the window with each Thwack against the glass, and then back again. "You gotta stay awake...Abby." He jostled her biting back a scream when it aggravated his side.

Another sound caught his attention from outside the lab doors...and McGee slowly inclined his head in that direction, narrowed eyes not sure what to expect, until he felt the shudder of the building and it's death kneel song ended, just as the sheet of glass from the window collapsed into the room. "Abby! McGee!"

Gibbs voice should have been a welcome relief, but it was coupled with a reverberating crash from the direction of the elevator, followed by a rolling thunder of debris and dust that began to roll through the lab door entrenching the room with it's murky presence. "Abby's out, Boss." McGee called trying to pull the both of them to their feet, enough so that he could drag Abby towards the window. McGee was coughing uncontrollably by the time he got close enough to reach both Tony and Gibb's outstretched arms.

OOO

The whole world felt like it was turned on it's head. Betrayal looming in on all sides. Betrayal and disappointment and abstract terror. Was the entire damn organization so stuck on the little details that no one could make an informed judgment call? Now...now was not the time to debate about structural integrity. He'd gotten enough of the statistics to know that Abby and McGee didn't have long, enough so that they had a shot at saving them. He never asked anyone to come in with him, they knew the risks. They'd been there, heard it all.

He could taste copper as ivory edged against clenched gums with every swing of the hammer. It wasn't the same for the others, but he didn't question their motives, they were here because of loyalty, or friendship, a sense of family, because they knew that they would do the same for them....His own motives were more desperate. Not that it was something he now dwelt on. His attention was on the fracturing glass that wouldn't give, wouldn't give! No matter how hard...and even with Tony's swing to back his own up...it still wouldn't give!

Frustration and exasperation raged in his cry as he nailed the last swing that took the whole pane at once, pummeling it through the shambling remains of the window frame and into Abby's lab. Gibb's sank to his knees and looked inside frantically, searching for familiar forms inside the dimly lit room. Gibb's tasted bile when his heart took a nose dive into his stomach at Abby's sinking form and McGee's strangled attempt to help her. He called out Abby's name first, hoping to see her rouse, to have his undying determination bolstered by a nudge of hope. McGee's name came after, when slivers of cold steel fear began to snake through his veins.

Gibb's swallowed tightly as he saw McGee moving, adrenaline and desperation giving him what little edge he had left as he dragged her towards his and Tony's now outstretched arms. He managed to grab Abby under her arm as Tony did the same on her other side and they both instantly moved in perfect synchronized harmony to pull her to safety. "Ducky!" Gibb's had already seen McGee's chances falling as he succumbed to the growing cloud inside the lab and was now doubled over coughing on the floor, hands and knees barely holding him up.

He felt a moment of pride that he didn't even have to nudge Tony in the right direction by saying his name, he was already climbing in, grabbing Tim, hoisting him up enough to get a scream that Gibb's would have likened to a sound from combat. Ducky and Palmer ducked under the protective tape that Gibb's and Tony had skirted moments ago to get there as Gibb's reached back in to help Tony get McGee out.

He could feel the shivering, underground, all around him. The crews were already running, the equipment left in their wake as large blocks fell around them. Ducky and Palmer grabbed Abby and moved, knowing that being crushed wasn't going to improve her chances of survival. It was up to Gibbs and a now scrambling Tony to get McGee back to safety...and by the time they could turn to look back, winded and choked on the remains of the ashes of their former home away from home...there was little that was readily recognizable standing where it had before.

OOO

Deep umber met it's own heart, as cool droplets ran slowly down her face. She'd cut the remainder's of the bandages off, leaving a trail of scabbed over cuts and laceration all the way to her marred purplish ear. She'd seen worse. She'd been worse. For a moment she even entertained that none of this was as bad as it appeared, but she couldn't even tell that lie to herself.

Someone had stolen away into the depths of the life that she was trying to rebuild and torn the very idea to the foundation. It wasn't just about the destruction of a building or that in that act she'd nearly lost two of her friends, her trusted co- workers. Ziva closed her eyes and breathed in and out in sharp measured breaths a moment before she allowed any more thoughts a place in her mind. Something wasn't right about it all...it was...she couldn't put her finger on it. But she knew it. No one had died at NCIS...only a handful had been injured of those, only McGee and Abby seriously. Maybe that was just a miracle.

After all, they had lost 8 people in the FBI precinct explosion. It was a much smaller number than it could have been, but any loss was too much. It still felt all wrong. There were terrorist groups all over the globe already taking credit for it, but no one was biting, there wasn't as much death as one would expect from such an act. They had so little to go on, most of the evidence was buried under massive amounts of debris, and there had been no chatter, none. The kind of secrecy that was going on here wouldn't belong to any known terrorist group that she knew of. This was something else. And she had a feeling that it was far from over.

She walked out of the bathroom, more composed and made her way to the waiting room. Tony was now off on another assignment, something to do with questioning a police informant to a case that may be related. Gibbs was in the waiting room, pacing and on the phone with Ducky who had relocated to the NCIS field office nearby to do some tests on a body part they had recovered from the explosion at headquarters.

He seemed to be finishing up on her approach and slammed the phone shut as he looked to her for some answers. "The body was to be used for training purposes. It was transferred from Bethesda this morning under Director Vance's authorization. It had been scheduled since yesterday afternoon."

Gibbs looked away briefly, licking at his lips thoughtfully. "Ducky found traces of latex and acetone peroxide. He said the latex seemed like balloon quality." He didn't go into the much more detailed explanation that Ducky had given him before he'd nearly hung up on him. "Could someone have slipped that into the corpse to use as a bomb?"

"It is possible, but the compound is so unstable that anything, from bumping it in the hospital to an unsteady ride over could have triggered the explosion. Unless there was some way to keep the two chemicals from mixing until it reached it's destination..." Ziva began and Gibb's eyes widened.

"What if it was separated...like two different bags...balloons..."

Ziva was already nodding. "The Acetone would have eaten through the latex eventually, if the killer knew the amount of time that took, he could have successfully planned for the chemicals to have mixed in the window of time that the body arrived at NCIS." She explained.

Gibbs nodded slowly. "Find out if the FBI had a body scheduled to come in this morning for any reason." Gibbs told her immediately. He knew she might have some trouble obtaining the information as the two agencies were in a pissing contest for jurisdiction, but so far information was still being shared. "Is McGee..."

"He is not out of Surgery yet." She replied with a tight swallow. Gibbs threw his empty cup off coffee at the wall so hard that it ricocheted off the wall, the foam splitting before it landed in the floor. He was already moving, making his way towards Abby's room. He flipped his phone open again and dialed Fornell's number...again.

OOO

" _...__Smells-like something I've forgotten...Curled up died and now it's rotten..I'm not a gangster tonight...Don't want to be a bad guy...I'm just a loner baby...And now you're gotten in my way._"

Of all the songs that could be left on a loop...He already had a headache...and trying to get untied in pitch blackness with his heart already beating far faster to the annoying song that was blaring in his midnight hell was doing little to help in that endeavor. He was getting to old for this.

"_I can't decide...Whether you should live or die...Oh, you'll probably go to heaven...Please don't hang your head and cry...No wonder why My heart feels dead inside...It's cold and hard and petrified...Lock the doors and close the blinds...We're going for a ride_."

He knew the words by heart now and by God he wished he didn't. It served it's purpose, the song, it drowned out all surrounding noise and made it difficult for him to get any sort of location for his whereabouts. Plus should he somehow work the duct tape off his mouth, no one would hear him scream. It was playing so loud that someone should have checked it out by now, if they could hear it.

" _It's a bitch convincing people to like you...If I stop now call me a quitter...If lies were cats you'd be...a litter...Pleasing everyone isn't like you...Dancing jigs until I'm crippled...Slug ten drinks I won't get pickled._"

For what seemed like the millionth time since he'd woken to find himself in the state he was currently in he watched as his cell phone momentarily lit up the blackness as it vibrated across the floor. He quickly began his mental memorization of his surroundings once more...the shelves, contents of said shelves. He was looking for anything that could help him out of whatever he'd stepped into this time.

" _I've got to hand it to you...You've played by all the same rules...It takes the truth to fool me...And now you've made me angry. __I can't decide...Whether you should live or die..._"

FBI Senior Field Agent Fornell inclined his head to a sudden new source of light as a door far above him opened, illuminating a steep set of stairs leading down to what he now knew was a basement. He swallowed tightly, wincing at the bright light as he waited for the man to get far enough down the stairs so that he could make out his face. All he needed was one look...one.

He never got it though...instead the khacki clad legs stopped just shy of him even seeing the guys waist. "It's almost over!" the man shouted over the music. He got the feeling that the guy was just wanting to see him squirming for a moment...as if he needed the satisfaction. He didn't for a moment believe that he was concerned with letting him know that whatever plan he had was coming to fruition. With that...he headed back up the stairs as the phone continued and the music played onward.

" _Oh I could throw you in the lake...Or feed you poisoned birthday cake...I wont deny I'm gonna...miss you when you're gone...Oh I could bury you alive...But you might crawl out with a knife...And kill me when I'm sleeping...That's why...I can't decide...Whether you should live or die..._"


	5. Chapter 5

**Message in a Body**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own NCIS or any of it's characters. There is no profit from this work of fiction, all copyrights belong to their respective owners and this is just for fun.

**A/N: **I usually update a little faster then this, but alas... life. Thanks again for the lovely comments. They are always welcome and appreciated. This chapter was a little more difficult for me to bring together, but I hope to steer us back around to having the focus more on McGee and Abby again. I hope everyone enjoys. For the purpose of this chapter and the rest of the story, words that are separated from the main body of the story by asterisks (*) are conveyed in sign language.

**Chapter Five : No title**

The rage hadn't dissipated from his foam cup toss earlier. It wasn't just Fornell not answering, it was so much more. He'd almost lost two team members, the whole damn building was in disarray and they hadn't been the only target. He felt personally and patriotically attacked, not a good combination. Gibbs took a deep breath, pausing outside Abby's room to collect himself. She was sitting up in bed, peering up at the television, but he knew she wasn't watching it fully. She couldn't be. She could only lip read to an extent, characters turned away from the camera, the shots were obscured. Emerald eyes narrowed as she studied the screen and he felt his heart cinch.

He was going to kill someone before this was all over...

Gibbs stilled the emotions, at least from showing, even as a tumultuous rage warred on inside him, before he pushed her door open and noticed her gaze swiftly moving to focus on him. " Mc..." She started to ask about McGee her voice distorted and slightly off, louder then she normally spoke but frowned in frustration, breaking off abruptly. * He's still in surgery. * Gibbs signed quickly, as he approached her bedside, never thinking there would be a time when he would _have_ to sign with her. Sure he could have made sure he was facing her and talk, but this felt more personal.

The Doctor had explained that it could be temporary, could be permanent, they wouldn't know for a bit. For now though, Abby's head injury had rendered her completely deaf. * How are you feeling?*Abby leaned back against the pillows with a sigh, looking small in the bed. * How do you think?* Abby's nostrils flared as she tried to tuck her own emotions away without any luck. She was always an open book to him.

Gibbs slipped his hand over hers and leaned down to kiss her cheek reassuringly. He stopped himself from whispering as he normally would have, startled that he had to remind himself that she really wouldn't hear him this time. He pulled back, just enough so that she could see his lips. "It's over, Abs...everything is going to be alright." Gibbs knew the whole of the investigation was just starting, but for Abby and McGee, their role in it was over and he intended to keep them out of harms way.

She squeezed his hand and gave him a watery smile, before leaning against his shoulder, needing that reassurance, the small comforts that Gibbs had a way of providing. Now she was just worried about McGee. He had to be alright...had to be.

OOO

Tony was waiting for Gibbs when he walked out of the room, trying to look past him, through the small window to get a look at her. "How is she?"

"She's hanging in there...what did you find?" Gibbs replied slightly deflated from his visit, the feeling of helplessness edging in closer.

Tony got down to business, unable to hide his own concern before he began. "He found an officer down in the alley way, already dead and called it in. Apparently they were slow in responding and only sent one officer. He went to check it out and something detonated in the alleyway, if it wasn't the body then it was close. Our witness had been asked to stand by the squad car and was headed back in that direction. The force of the blast threw him into the middle of the street, he sustained second degree burns over 50% of his back and legs. He said he vaguely remembered a man, though he never saw his face, kept himself just out of sight, but placed this..." Tony held up an evidence bag containing a small white card. " In his shirt pocket."

Gibbs took the bag and gave the card a closer look, seeing a string of numbers as the only bit of information there. He looked back up to see if Tony had any more to add. "He also said that the man told him to tell 'them that they had it all wrong.'" Gibbs swallowed tightly meeting Tony's eyes in frustration that there wasn't more then that. No description, nothing...Still if they had a body that blew up...then it meant someone had targeted not only the NCIS headquarters and the FBI precinct, but some aspect of the D.C. Police.

Gibbs paused looking back at the number his mind side stepping a slue of possibilities. "Were the dead officers from the same substation?" He asked him as he flipped his phone open already dialing. "They were." Tony narrowed his eyes, not sure where Gibbs was going with this. Someone answered the phone on the other end, presumably from the NCIS precinct that they were relocating to temporarily. Whoever it was seemed to be under instruction to take orders from Gibbs too...

"I need you to run a closed case file down...the numbers are..." Gibbs looked to the white card in the evidence bag, looking more and more distraught as the pieces were slowly coming together. He read the numbers on the card off and then met Tony's eyes, with a look that chilled DiNozzo to the bone. He could almost swear that there was a glint of fear in his eyes...and there was no sign that anyone was in any danger.

Suddenly they were on the move as Gibbs nodded for him to follow and he fell right in line with him. Ziva rounded the corner right into their path and stopped herself short of the group, looking as though she had her own information to devulge as Gibbs looked over the nurses station to see a couple of fax machines in dormancy. Gibbs angled his head so that he wasn't talking straight into the phone and looked to Tony first. "Get the fax number to the one they need the least...Ziva?" Gibbs turned his attention on her as he was waiting for the person on the other end of the line to get back to him.

"They were bringing in a body of one of their own, retired agent Francis Black. There was a break in, to his apartment last night. He was found hanging by the neck from the lighting fixture, showing signs of torture." Ziva explained quickly and then fell silent, awaiting her next set of orders. What she didn't expect was to see the color drain from Gibbs face. Yes it was horrible and grizzly, but maybe it was something more, perhaps Gibbs knew the man...

Tony returned with the number and handed it to Gibbs, who he swore had turned three shades of white. "Fax the whole file – everything to..." Gibbs rattled off the number and without so much as a thank you hung up the phone. "Tony don't move from the fax until the file is through. Ziva you're with me...Tony find out how McGee is and let me know when he's in recovery..." He tucked his phone away and hurried towards the elevator with Ziva in tow, leaving Tony and a handful of nurses looking after him in wonder.

OOO

Tony would argue in a heart beat, that Gibbs never said not to look at the file...would so argue, because he hadn't, there were a handful of nurses and even Ziva!...Ziva heard him...or didn't as the case may be. Gibbs said nothing about not looking. Which is why an hour and half after Tony had been ordered to stay with the fax machine he headed to the waiting room with a full file folder and so much material to go over. The last thing he was expecting was....

Tony felt the arms encircle him in a rushed hug of desperation and worry as he looked down at the brown locks and obscured face, trying to piece together just who...Oh yeah...yeah. It came together as soon as her sob reached him, through the muffled fabric of his battled blue dress shirt. Sarah McGee. The news had reached her. She pulled back and looked him in the eyes pleading for information. "It's going to be...we'll know something soon." He was trying to reassure her. She finally pulled back, displaying the strength he had seen in her before. She didn't have a chance to speak before the sudden...

"McGee family?" Sarah straightened and Tony whirled to see the doctor. "That's me!" Sarah exclaimed then stepped up in front of Tony

The doctor addressed her with a sympathetic smile. "He did very well. He was very fortunate, the rebar barely nicked the kidney. We were able to stop the bleeding. I've ordered some strong pain medication, but he should recover nicely. He's in recovery now but they'll let you know as soon as he is in a room." Sarah let out her breath in tandem with Tony both glad to hear that he was going to be alright.

It was Tony who now took a step up. "I need to see him as soon as possible..."

"When he gets to a room, you should be able to see him." The doctor assured him. Tony frowned with a nod, knowing he still needed to go over the file before he handed it over to Gibbs or he might never know the contents.

As the Doctor retreated Tony turned back to Sarah. "That's good news. He's going to be fine..." He promised her, drawing her into a hug. "You want to sit with me, after I check on Abby?"

"Abby's hurt too?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"Yeah but no surgery. She has a few cracked ribs, and a concussion." Tony explained leaving out the part where she might never hear again.

"Can I see her?" Tony blinked, taken off guard. "I...I guess so...I didn't know you two really knew each other..."

"We've been seeing a lot of each other lately. Tim told you, right?" She paused as she realized that indeed he hadn't. "He didn't..." She frowned.

Tony realized that she wasn't about to go on and weighed a moment whether or not to pry. "Wait...McGee and Abby were...are they seeing each other?" His confirmation came when she clammed up on him.

"I shouldn't say anything else...." She smiled and he felt relief at that, she was calming down, but he still wanted to know more about it. "Can I see her though?" She obviously wanted to see Abby and he nodded. "Sure. I can show you where her room is..."

They walked in silence as he led her to Abby's room and then situated himself against the wall, just before they got there. "She can't hear, right now, I'm sure it will go away, it's from the head injury...but she can read lips if you stand where she can see your's...ok?" Tony hated to drop the last bomb shell on her but didn't know what else he could do as he could see that she needed something...something to tied her over before she saw her brother.

Sarah gave him a shocked glance but nodded finally before she reached for the door. Tony had just flipped open the file before nodding her to go on...and was just reading the summary...as she suddenly rushed back out. "She's not in there..."

Tony looked up snapping the file shut. "What?"

"She's not, not in the bathroom, not in the room." Sarah explained worriedly. " Could she be out walking the halls?"

Tony felt his gut instinct kick in as he shook his head. "Stay here." He ordered her as he rushed down the hall for the elevators and then to the surgical recovery...He stopped at a slide as he found the signs and yanked a mask out of the dispenser on the wall, quickly covering his face before he entered, not sure why he was feeling so unnerved. "McGee?" he asked a passing nurse inside and she quickly pointed him in the right direction.

Tony yanked the curtain aside and gasped at the empty bed...


	6. Chapter 6

**Message in a Body**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NCIS or it's characters. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. I don't make a profit from writing this – it's just for fun.

**A/N: **I gave up trying to title the chapters, in case you couldn't tell. Well McGee and Abby are back together but not necessarily in a good way. Thanks for all the feedback so far, I appreciate it very much, that and all the story alerts that are on for this and the favorites, it all make me giddy just to think about it. It really makes me want to dive into the next chapter. I really hope that everyone enjoys.

**Chapter Six**

She felt the reverberation of her moan as she woke painfully. It was a rapid shift involving a frantic moment of panic. There was something about coming to in the dark that had that effect. Couple the former with confinement and the fact that she'd been rendered _temporarily,_ she hoped, deaf and the panic level heightened significantly.

"Oh my God." She whispered feeling her hot breath reflected back against her face by the soft awkward object beneath her. It didn't take long to determine that the _something_ was a _someone_ and that she was laying smack dab on top of them. They had yet to move though and the fearful thought that perhaps they weren't going to crept into her mind accompanied by an agonizing grimace and a mad attempt to discover some way out. She pushed her arms out and frantically began to explore the enclosure which only fueled the panic.

It was small.

She cursed feeling the rough thin carpet beneath her fingertips as she clawed about trying to test her boundaries. She pushed her head backwards and instantly connected with bracketed metal. The panic grew in leaps and bounds as she thrust her right shoulder upward and hit more metal. She let out a cry of frustration as she continued to shoulder the object enacting a host of movement that involved most every muscle in her body, finally rendering a pained cry when her cracked ribs protested louder then her hysteria.

There was a sudden vibration from beneath her, chest against chest as she realized that the_ someone_ was a _he_ and that her actions had caused him pain. Abby could deduce a few things at this moment. The someone that was under her was wearing clothes, namely a hospital gown, similar to hers. Their bare legs were inadvertently rubbing against each others and the material was the same length, weight...it made sense...though in what world, she wasn't sure.

She froze. His breath touched her face causing her to angle her head back as she tried to move off him only to connect once more with the metal above her.

He was alive.

He was awake.

"McGee?" her voice came out in an awkward whisper as she pushed back as far off him as she could.

It wasn't far.

Her body instantly connected with the metal overhead and she had to settle her body over his again with no ability to keep connectivity to a minimum. There was no where to go. There was no room.

"Yeah, Abby?" he repeated her question back to her in the same sort of whisper with a wince to his voice that betrayed that he shared a similar headache that she also suffered from at the moment. What was more...she _**heard**_ him, albeit it barely, she heard his voice, the wince, God she could hear, but she couldn't exactly celebrate the small victory at the moment.

"Yeah...You...um...Do you know where we are?" Her hearing dipped in and out and she frowned, worried that she had been relieved a moment to soon, but prayed that she hadn't been, that it just meant it was coming back completely, but slowly. She turned her head to the side shifting to keep their breath from mingling and ended up with her head on his shoulder.

"Last thing I remember was the lab." He replied with a groan, trying to shift her around to get more comfortable. "This feels like a trunk," he said quietly as his hands roamed the insides of their confinement with a much slower and less panicked motion than she had attempted a moment ago, probably partly because he was still coming out of anesthesia. As his hands came into contact with her thigh he pulled back immediately. "Sorry." he breathed against the top of her head.

"It's alright." She didn't feel as if things were in actuality alright, but in regard to him awkwardly touching her, it couldn't be avoided. "Why?" She heard the tremor to her own voice and fought the tears that it further stirred. Why were they in a trunk? Someone had planted a bomb in the NCIS building, an FBI precinct and God only knew where else. Why would that someone kidnap them? Or was it _that_ someone? What if it was a random patient snatcher from the hospital...but then how were she and McGee both selected at random? That couldn't be coincidence.

"I don't know." The response wasn't comforting, to say the least.

"Can you move?" he asked suddenly. He shifted his body under hers when she answered that she couldn't. His hands roamed over the metal above her head and he paused. He gauged the room he had to work in by pressing his hand quickly against her left arm, up her shoulder, to her neck, and then head. He then felt of the metal overhead again before plowing his fist as hard into the barrier as he could. "Owww."

She heard the sting to the cry as his movement pressed their upper bodies together and she was raised up high enough for her head to connect lightly with the trunk lid. "Be careful." She cautioned with a wince as they came back down to rest on the bottom. "McGee you just got out of surgery...stay still, besides you'd have a better chance of getting through to the backseat then getting a locked trunk open." She rationalized out in mid thought stream.

"You're right..." his was winded. He suddenly pulled his other arm around her to hold her in place as he twisted them slightly so that they could both get a feel of where the backseat was at. They both frantically poked and prodded feeling for where the release would have been or weak spots, then fumbled around the bottom of the trunk for something sharp, something...that could be used as a weapon...something...anything that could help them. They both gave out quickly, agonized and winded, exhausted...they were in poor shape to be doing anything save resting...yet here they were....

"Sorry." Their breathing was the only thing either could hear for a long while before he apologized.

"I don't understand..." Abby's voice was racked with terror. "Why kidnap us? That is what this is, right?"

"I don't know Abby, I don't even remember getting out of the building..." McGee could only assume that they had as he was clearly wearing a hospital gown and so was she, he didn't have to be able to see to realize that. "Could be related to the explosion I guess."

"We don't have any proof of that though...I haven't analyzed anything from the explosion." Abby protested. There was another bout of silence before Abby raised her head from his shoulder in another wave of panic. "You were in surgery...Oh. My. God." McGee went still as she suddenly tried to feel around on him as if to see if he'd made it out of it. She paused when he let out a yell at her touching of his side, feeling stitches under the thin fabric. "Does it hurt? How do you feel?"

"Like I've been in surgery..." McGee replied between clenched teeth until she realized that she was hurting him and stilled with another bombardment of apologies. "We've got to think this out...doesn't matter why, right now...Someone is going to open the trunk...did you feel anything that we could use to defend ourselves?" He was terrified, for her, for him...but was realizing how little they could do in their current conditions.

"There isn't anything." Abby settled against him after feeling her way around the trunk once more. She could feel the car pulling to a stop as they both winced in tandem from the movement it caused them, shifting their injuries.

"Ok...well they want something." McGee reasoned out groggily, wishing he could think a little straighter at the moment. "If we just, stay calm, and look for an opening..." He steadied his arm around her reassuringly. "We'll get out of this." He promised her.

Abby nodded, trying to fight back tears, to be as strong for him as he was trying to be for her. "I know..." she leaned in just as he suddenly leaned up and their lips met in an impassioned embrace of love and comfort all tangled together, the moment shattered only by the sudden onslaught of daylight that caught them unaware when the trunk opened...

OOO

Ziva gave Gibbs a glance out of the corner of her eye, trying to piece it all together. She'd been in his company long enough to get more of a feel for how his mind worked, but she still had trouble sometimes, following where he was going with all that was left unsaid at this moment, was one of those times. What she knew was that two federal agencies and one police substation had been attacked, with shrapnel of evidence funneling towards them in an awkward and seemingly unrelated manner. Three bodies, three bombs, one survivor with a string of numbers that Gibbs had alluded belonged to an old case file.

Gibbs still wasn't divulging what he knew. She just didn't know if he was looking for confirmation or waiting for her to ask. Apparently he didn't need to know what was in the file, or if he did, he wasn't asking. Instead, he was on the phone berating some desk sergeant about the known addresses for two civilian individuals whose names she had never heard before.

There was a lull in his conversation and Gibbs caught her eye in the rear view. "Get DiNozzo on the phone and get the names of the officers and FBI that worked that case." Gibbs ordered her urgently, just as he seemed to get one of the addresses and he suddenly cornered the next right. "Right..." Gibbs hung up the phone with a frown, anger hedging deeper into his voice to keep the worry company. "Not just the lead investigators...everyone from each agency that worked the case."

Ziva already had the phone out dialing Tony. "Do you mind me asking..." She was abruptly interrupted.

"Get the names, Ziva..." the gruffness to his voice let her know that he did. Gibbs had a look about him that she'd seen in her Father in the past and it was enough to scare her, especially coupled with the explosions from earlier. She drew in a breath sharply when...

"DiNozzo." Tony sounded out of breath, carefree scattered to the wind as fear coated his tongue.

"Is there a problem, Tony?" Ziva asked him worriedly, garnering a look from Gibbs as he made another turn.

"A pretty big one." She could almost hear the gulp, before he could go on. "Abby and McGee are gone and the security room's equipment just went up like a match box." Tony explained his anger at himself apparent. Ziva widened her eyes, meeting Gibbs wishing she was anyone in this one moment other then the messenger.

OOO

Fornell winced at the light once more as mercifully the music shut off and more then one set of footfall graced the stairs. "Ok ok ok...I'm going." He narrowed his eyes to take in a scantily hospital clad set of patients being followed in by the khaki gun wielder that had captured him from his bed the night before. The feat had only been accomplished because his Scotch bottle in the living room had previously been drugged by presumably the same lunatic(s).

He'd finally placed the after taste in his mouth and realized how it was the man had gotten the jump on him, why memory of the night before was so hazy. What didn't make sense though was...why Abigail Scuito and Timothy McGee were being led down the stairs their hands cuffed behind their backs. How was all this connected?

Abby's eyes met Fornell's and her's widened in horror. "Tobias!" She decided it was an informal enough occasion considering they were all currently kidnapped. McGee seemed to be having a hard time staying on his feet and welcomed the respite to a folding chair that the masked khaki clad man pulled out for the two of them. Fornell realized that maybe it wasn't the shadows that had shrouded the man's face earlier but the mask.

He ignored Abby save to nod at her reassuringly before he focused on the man behind the mask. "Why are you doing this?" He whispered as McGee sank back in his chair. The man turned with a chuckle and motioned to Abby.

"Sit, Miss Scuito." He said, his voice raggedly and deep, gravely. He waited until Abby complied, obviously worried about what he would do to the others should she not. He quickly moved on, to securing the both of them to their chairs with duct tape after slipping their already bound arms over the back.

"Why are you doing this?" Fornell asked again. The man ignored him until he was finished with his work.

"It will all make sense soon." He promised him. "You've a few more old friends to be reunited with before then."

OOO

**A/N: ** The next chapter will help connect the file that has yet to be revealed to the current situation and hopefully shed more light onto what's going on. I hope everyone enjoys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Message in a Body**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own NCIS or it's characters. All copyrights belong to their respective owners. This work of fiction is just for fun, not profit. The character of Shaun Mahanay was used with the generous permission of L. Kyle. Also copyrights for "The Mission" lyrics belong to Puscifer.

**A/N: **I know I tend to leave things hanging a lot, hope it's not frustrating everyone too much, I just can't close a chapter on a fin type note until I'm at the end of the story. This story being my first NCIS fan fic is still a little out of my usual genre too so I'm struggling a bit. As always, I am so happy to have people reviewing at all. The feed back is so appreciated, lets me know I haven't botched everything completely. This is my sort of fill in some blanks chapter. Hope you enjoy.

**Chapter Seven**

_**6:00pm**_

_**May 23rd, 1992**_

Twilight settled over the lone country road, muddied shades of bloody skies heralding in the night and it's sorted secrets. Heat lightning and a stiff breeze had raised concern of fires, but so far there were no news of growing inferno's, dancing out of control. Special agent Frank's and his Probie were on their way to see a Navy Lieutenant's wife who had relocated to a communal group home with their son while he was deployed to Iraq.

They'd already been told that the FBI was handling the bulk of the questions filtering in by loved ones of the 'cults' members. The groups name was The Celestial Temple, sharing some sort of religious affiliation with the Planets and their Moons as an off shoot of the Zoroastrian religion. The group had become more and more vocal and fear was arising that despite their contributions to the community around them, they were becoming unstable, possibly a threat to themselves or others. So far jurisdiction had been passed from the Metro PD's Seventh Substation to the FBI with agents Tobias Fornell and Francis Black running point.

NIS was coming in just to question the wife as there was talk of kidnapping charges in regards to her and the Lieutenant's son. Leroy Jethro Gibbs had been with the NIS just a short while, the number of cases under his belt countable on his fingers. Franks adjusted the radio as he drove them in silence. The fields, road side, lit up sporadically with the yellowed green of fireflies. Gibbs was quiet, starring out the window, lost in thought. Franks respected his silence without prying as to what he was thinking.

All of the silent reflection was lost as soon as a threesome of Metro squad cars suddenly raced passed them with lights and sirens a blazing. " Hold on..." Franks immediately sped up as Jethro took hold of the handle on the door. They pulled into their destination into a circus of spot lights and scrambling uniformed men, some PD, some FBI. NIS was the last to arrive to the insanity.

As if the scrambling wasn't enough of a dead giveaway, Gibbs knew it was bad when he rose from the passenger seat to see an officer reintroducing his dinner to the base of a tree a few feet off the driveway. He looked over the top of the car to Franks, meeting his boss's eyes. Franks looked less concerned, but there was a hint of fear there. You could smell crimson and copper in the air, the stench of blood, still fresh.

They closed the car doors in tandem and started at a hurried walk up the drive, passing squad cars and unmarked's parked all over the place. The house was already surrounded, the sound of ambulances on their way keeping tune to the light show from the fireflies as Gibbs suddenly ducked an object swaying from a tree that overhung the drive way. He had been reaching for his gun, ready to assist with what was going on when the body nearly swung into him. He and Franks both jumped and found their gazes draw upward, realization dawning.

The order to stand down was given just as they glimpsed what had the whole of the estate unnerved, some to the extent of throwing up. In the trees, that adorned the side yard, all twelve of them, 52 bodies were swaying from the branches, the ground beneath soaked with the blood that was dripping from their still fresh wounds. Exiting from the front door, Fornell walked hand in hand with a small boy, the only survivor, Lieutenant Edward Grant's son, James Grant. The boy looked lost as Fornell shielded him from the sight of the bodies, his own body soaked with blood, though whose...Gibbs wasn't sure.

He felt his own stomach churning. The rest of the night felt like a blur. It took the resources of all three agencies and then some to sort it all out. They had five medical examiners working on the case...including Dr. Mallard. The leader of the Celestial Temple caught wind of a rebellion sweeping the compound. Faced with the threat of losing his followers, he'd convinced his right hand man that he'd heard the will of the Gods. James Grant was going to be his protege but first they had to deal with the nonbelievers.

Malcom Anderson and Justin Down had locked the occupants of the compound into a meeting hall on the ground and systematically killed them, one by one, hanging their bodies in the trees as a sign for future generations. James Grant had been locked in a different room, hearing the screams, but never understanding what had actually happened until Anderson came for him, at last. He'd killed Justin Downs by then, wishing to have no witnesses of the atrocities they had committed together. He didn't count on James seeing the bodies out the window and sneakily finding a way to make a phone call while he packed.

They'd been just about to leave when the first of the cavalry arrived. Malcom Anderson, died trying to kill himself and James...

_**Present Day. **_

Three explosions, all related. There wasn't a question in his mind. A case number from the vaults of hell in Gibbs mind. One dead retired FBI agent that worked the case, killed in the same manner as the victims. The three agencies that were bombed were in chaos scrambling to mobilize their people. It would take days to realize that those that were unreachable were truly missing. The explosions were the perfect cover to get to so many highly trained individuals.

The inside of the car sounded like a ruckus of one sided conversations as soon as the pieces began to fall into place for Gibbs, as soon as he found out that Abby and McGee were missing. Fornell was unreachable, Black was dead, He had a hard enough time getting Franks on the phone when he needed him...There were two detectives to check on in order to prove his theory...

He caught the surprise in Ziva's eye when there wasn't a rebuke for Tony's negligence, even though she, herself, knew that they couldn't have known that Abby and McGee were in any further danger. They had pulled into a drive way marked _Grant _on the mailbox but were waiting, waiting for the dual frantic information seeking quest to end.

"I am reading the list back to you now...Metro PD...Shaun Mahanay, John Foster, lead investigators. FBI...Tobias Fornell and Francis Black...NCIS...Special Agents Mike Franks and Gibbs." Ziva omitted Gibbs first and middle names and went on. " Medical examiners...Dr. Mallard, Dr. Sans, Dr. Alverez, Dr. Green, and Dr. Harris. Forensic scientists...Jared Fresco, Amy Daniels, and Chad Morgan."

"That's what it says..." Tony replied quickly, covering the mic for a second to call out. "They haven't swept the parking garage yet? What...the..." He came back to Ziva. "I need to go...is there anything else?"

"I'm checking." Ziva replied softly, wishing that it would reassure Tony, but realizing that the chances of that were miniscule. She looked to Gibbs who was in the middle of his own conversation.

"I just need to know if detectives Mahanay and Foster came in today... Has anyone been able to reach them?" Gibbs exhaled in exasperation. "Do you have their home addresses handy?" He motioned for Ziva to wrap it up as he saw her list and reached for it, getting the hand off readily. He covered his phone mic as he wrote the addresses down. "Call Ducky and get him to pull up the case file that Tony's already got. Tell him I want a protection detail for himself and Palmer, purely precautionary, until I can connect the rest of these dots."

"Yes, Sir...Tony that's all..." She broke off as he gave a frustrated growl at someone beside him and hung up on her, then she quickly dialed Ducky.

A few moments later they hung up in almost perfect unison. Ziva caught Gibbs arm when he reached to let himself out of the car. "Sir, I need to know what you think might be happening. I can help, if I know more." She offered, meeting his eyes pleadingly. She had to do more then this...taking orders that seemed so random out of context. For a moment she doubted that he was going to tell her, that he was going to put it off until a latter moment.

Instead Gibbs closed his eyes, breathing deeply before he spoke. "The case number that I gave Tony was a mass murder involving a cult that happened 18 years ago. Right now, it looks like the explosions targeted the two agencies and the one police substation that worked the case. More then a handful of the agents that worked the case are missing..."

Ziva narrowed her eyes in confusion. "But Abby and McGee....they were not here then."

Gibbs shook his head and held up the pad pointing out Franks and Amy's names. "He's replacing the people that he can't get to with people that are available in the same departments. Abby and McGee were hurt and easy targets..."

Ziva swallowed tightly and looked to the house whose drive way they now occupied. "And _Grant_?"

"He's the only survivor. He was seven...He's the best lead we have right now." Gibbs explained.

OOO

_...Droppin' bombs from above cut you all down to size...'Cause they're hip to the bull and they're hip to the lies...And they're hip to the lies._

"This reminds me of a movie!" Abby's voice rose over the new music that was being looped. Now Fornell it served another purpose. It hindered communication between those in the same room, even if they had gotten the tape freed from their lips. At least it was a different song...

_Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies...Right in front of your eyes, it's time to get up...Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies...Now answer the lies it's time to get up...Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies  
_

_Whatcha' know about the ways on the underside? _

"S.F.W. I know I sound like Tony, but it really does. It was a really nice cast and there were hostages all immobilized in folding chairs, only they were in the back of a convenient store and there were several men with pantyhose over their head and..." Abby trailed off when McGee called her name to bring her back to the task at hand.

_What do you know?_

Bought a hot shot gat from a north end guinea...Now answer the lies, it's time to get up...Ante up with your ass 'cause you ain't got a penny...Time to get up...Dropping bombs from above cut you all down to size...Now answer the lies, it's time to get up...'Cause they're hip to the bull and they're hip to the lies...And they're hip to the lies.

"Right...sorry." She yelled apologetically as she dug her feet into the floor once more, trying to put the weight of the push on her hips, legs and feet instead of her torso as her ribs were already screaming almost as loudly as her head. They were trying to blindly maneuver so that one of them could get free before the guy came back. She knocked into someone's chair and heard McGee bite back a scream. "Sorry!" She called quickly.

"Don't worry about it, you're almost there." McGee called back when he could think clearly enough through the haze of pain to speak again. Fornell hitched in a breath in anticipation, praying that McGee could get Abby undone so that she could free the rest of them.

_Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies...Now answer the lies it's time to get up...Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies  
Right in front of your eyes, it's time to get up...Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies...Now answer the lies it's time to get up...Our turn to decide, who lives and who dies_

What do you know? 

OOO

**A/N: **The rest of the story is going to mainly focus on the peeps in the basement as Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony try and put together the rest of the puzzle. I hope everyone enjoys.


End file.
